Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 17 - Daniel 10

Transcript

December 17 - Daniel 10 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Wednesday.
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  It is the 17th of December. Oh, only a week and a day to go
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  before Christmas. Isn't it exciting?
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  Oh, I can't wait. And next week we will finish up
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  Daniel on Monday and then we will dive into Christmas
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  readings and we will prepare ourselves for this incredible
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  story to unfold next week on Thursday.
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  How exciting. So we are here and the threshold
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  of Christmas. And that's appropriate because
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  today we are reading kind of a theological threshold chapter
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  10. And Daniel is like this
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  theological threshold into the the final two chapters where
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  great things will unfold. And this chapter really is going
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  to kind of set the scene. And while Daniel is, I mean,
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  he's an old man, he is still in exile and he's fasting and he's
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  praying, trying to appeal to God to let his people go back home
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  to Israel. And while it feels like nothing
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  is going on and there's no response to him, God kind of
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  peels back the layers and allows him to see into the spiritual
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  realm where all of this battling is going on.
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  And his prayer is making a difference, but he just needs to
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  wait. And waiting is not about being
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  painful and delaying things, but it's about the slow, thorough
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  work of God behind the scenes in the spiritual realm that we will
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  likely have no idea is going on. So it is an encouragement for
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  us. And God does indeed hear our
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  prayers and does indeed respond, but sometimes in a place that we
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  cannot observe. So let us unwrap this present.
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  Let us step into this threshold through the doorway to the end
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  of Daniel. As we read together Daniel
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  chapter 10 in the third year of the reign
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  of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel, also known as Belte Jazzar, had
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  another vision. He understood that the vision
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  concerned events certain to happen in the future, times of
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  war and great hardship. When this vision came to me, I,
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  Daniel, had been mourning for three whole weeks.
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  All that time I'd eaten no rich food, no meat or wine crossed my
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  lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks
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  had passed. On April 23rd, as I was standing
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  on the Bank of the great Tigris River, I looked up and saw a man
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  dressed in linen clothing with a belt of pure gold around his
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  waist. His body looked like a precious
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  gem. His face flashed like lightning
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  and his eyes flamed like torches.
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  His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice
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  roared like a vast multitude of people.
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  Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but
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  they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide.
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  So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision.
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  My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt
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  very weak. Then I heard the man speak, and
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  when I heard the sound of his voice, I fainted and lay there
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  with my face to the ground. Just then a hand touched me and
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  lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees.
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  And the man said to me, Daniel, you are very precious to God, so
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  listen carefully to what I have to say to you.
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  Stand up, for I have been sent to you.
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  When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling.
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  Then he said, Don't be afraid, Daniel.
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  Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to
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  humble yourself before your God, Your request has been heard in
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  heaven. I have come in answer to your
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  prayer. But for 21 days the Spirit
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  Prince of the Kingdom of Persia blocked my way.
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  Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and
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  I left him there with the Spirit Prince of the Kingdom of Persia.
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  Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in
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  the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.
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  While he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground,
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  unable to say a word. Then the one who looked like a
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  man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to
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  speak. I said to the one standing in
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  front of me. I'm filled with anguish because
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  of the vision I've seen, my Lord, and I'm very weak.
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  How can someone like me, your servant, talk to you?
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  My Lord? My strength is gone and I can
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  hardly breathe. Than the one who looked like a
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  man touched me again and I felt my strength returning.
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  Don't be afraid, he said, for you are very precious to God.
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  Peace be encouraged, be strong. As he spoke these words to me, I
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  suddenly felt stronger and said to him, Please speak to me, my
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  Lord, for you have strengthened me.
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  He replied. Do you know why I have come?
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  Soon I must return to fight against the spirit Prince of the
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  Kingdom of Persia, and after that the Spirit Prince of the
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  Kingdom of Greece will come. Meanwhile, I will tell you what
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  is written in the Book of Truth. No one helps me against these
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  spirit Princess, except Michael, your Spirit Prince.
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  Our Lord, we hear this repeated phrase in these verses where
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  this heavenly creature says to Daniel more than one time that
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  you are precious to God. And we hear this and we know
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  that we are precious to You, Lord, and it doesn't make much
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  sense why we, these little people who go about living our
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  little lives making such silly mistakes day in and day out,
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  would be so precious to you, this perfect, almighty and
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  righteous God. But here we are, and that's the
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  truth, and that's what Your Word tells us.
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  I thank You that you would hear our prayer, that you would
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  respond, and that you would take on these spiritual powers and
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  principalities for us. And Jesus, ultimately, you took
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  on the power of darkness for us, and you won that victory, and
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  you share that victory with us through your victory on the
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  cross. And you open your arms wide and
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  you throw out this generous invitation for us to step into
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  your embrace, into your victory, and be loved and held forever
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  where the powers of darkness cannot touch us.
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  And so we step in and we feel your embrace, and we thank you.
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  We love you and we pray all of this in your wonderful, precious
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  name. Amen.